A total of 56 Indigenous Peoples (IPs) from Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, received educational assistance worth P420,000 on Tuesday, September 7.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Rep. Gerardo Valmayor Jr. (Neg. Occ., 1st District), Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen Dela Cruz, and Negros Occidental Scholarship Program (NOSP) Division head, Karen Dinsay, distributed the cash assistance to elementary and high school IP students at the Brgy. Bagong Silang Covered Court in the town.
Each IP student received P7,500 as allowance for the school year, under the scholarship category, Educational Assistance for IP’s Basic Education (EAIBE), a press release from the Capitol said.
Lacson said that the grantees must study diligently because the provincial government will continue to support them.
He advised the parents to encourage their children to study well so that they can reach their dreams.
In the past there were only 80 to 100 IP scholarship grantees, but the program has been expanded and now there are 300 Ati, Ata and Bukidnon who are recipients of EAIBE scholarship, he said.
Lacson said that someday he hopes to see an IP who will become a doctor.
The governor, Valmayor and Dela Cruz pledged to provide a one-time installation of a WiFi connection to be used by the IP students for their online classes.
In August and September 297 IPs in different towns and cities of Negros Occidental received their allowances totaling P2,227,500, the press release said.*